2008 Australian Open Tennis Championships

I took a nap earlier this evening, so I am ready for the Federer match. I'm hoping for a good one, and not the *** kicking that was last night. If Djokovic plays within himself and doesn't get intimidated, he has a real shot. It realty depends on what level Roger brings. I really hope we have a good one tonight. Telecast to begin in 10 minutes ...
 
wow, Novak breaks again to take the 1st set 7-5. Pretty good match so far ...
 
wow, Novak is playing great. He gets the early break on Roger. Now serving up a break at 3-1.

Interesting thing is Djokovic is getting gassed. And it is only the 2nd set. It also happened to again against Ferro in the quarters. Surely he can't be that out of shape. I wonder if it is nerves/stress, or some sort of medical/respiratory issue.

Federer does not have his best stuff right. After a Novak hold, roger now arrests at 1-4.
 
Roger gets one break back. Still down, though. Roger serving at 2-5.
 
Djokovic serves it out. He is up on Federer 7-5, 6-3. Both sets by one break. This match is getting very interesting. Roger better hope for a Novak letdown. Either that or pick up his game soon.
 
What's up Mike. I took a nap earlier too and woke up early. Federer is getting controlled by Novak. I sure hope he can hang on b/c I will be rooting hard for Tsonga and he will have a real shot against Djokovic. Tsonga is very fit and ripped for being a big boy like he is. Go Novak.
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Glad to have you back, vy. Right now, my biggest wonder if Djokovic's fitness is going to hold up. You have to assume Roger is going to pick it up in this set.
 
wow, Djokovic fought off two set points to hold serve and get the 3rd set to a tiebreak. Great tennis!
 
unfucking believable. Novak wins in straight sets 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (5). Amazing. Can't describe how huge a win this is!
 
I can't imagine how crazy Serbia must be going right now. Very good win for Novak. The final will be very interesting.

I am very interested in hearing the quotes from the presser.

Great slam finals run by Roger. 10 in a row is amazing.
 
Breakthrough win in a slam Djokovic needed. As I stated before I really hope Tsonga brings his A game in the final b/c we could have a really great match and a first time grandslam winner. I'll be rooting for Tsonga!
 
Looks like my hornfans jinx extended to Federer this time.

Hard to believe that both Nadal and Federer would lose and then that both would lose in straight sets.

Djokovic has played Federer tough recently and had reached the Semis the last 4 tournaments so this is really his big breakthrough but not a suprise. Tsonga is really a bit of a suprise and with the way he has played this tournament it should make for a great final. Everyone has been waiting for some other guys to step up in majors anyways so it ain't a bad thing at all.
 
hornphar, I think you and I are running about a couple of different points. If you are saying Rafa is more dominant on clay than Federer on grass, then I agree. If you are saying that Roger making the French finals is more impressive than Rafa making the Wimbledon finals, I really don't think one way or the other on that. Both are pretty impressive.

The point of my post is this ... Nadal has played Roger tougher at Wimbledon than Roger has played Nadal at Roland Garros. I posted the match lines to support that fact. Moreover, Rafa has shown to be closer to beating Roger at Wimbedon than Roger is to beating Rafa at Roland Garros. There is no debating that. The matches don't lie. That's all I am saying. Given the two Wimbledons and three French matches they have played against each other, Rafa has shown to be closer to beating Roger at Wimbledon than Roger is to beating Rafa at Roland Garros.

I really don't think Roger beating Rafa at Hamburg proved much of anything. I mean, it was a nice win for Roger and all. Probably gave him some confidence. Probably helped him prepare a bit for future matches. But I don't think it proved much. Rafa was gassed from all of the back-to-back tournaments he had played to that point in the clay season, and winning all of them. No one had played more tennis than he had. He really shouldn't have played Hamburg, like he didn't the year before. If anything, it helped him a bit because it took off the pressure of keeping the streak alive. If Rafa was 100%, in my mind Roger doesn't win that match. But that is just my opinion.

Here is another reason I don't think it means that much: Guillermo Canas beat Roger at Indian Wells last year, ending Roger's 41 match win streak. Did that mean anything? To me, not really. Yes, Roger lost to him again at Miami, but it prove anything? Was Canas back to being a Top 5 player now? No. Was Roger now vulnerable? According to last year's big match record, no. He still made it to the French Final, still won Wimbledon, still won US Open. My point is that whie those wins might have been big to Canas, personally ... it probably didn't mean much to Roger nor did it mean anything in regards to his record for the rest of the year. I think Roger enjoyed Hamburg and the win meant something to him. But what did it really prove? That Rafa was somehow now vulnerable on clay? Perhaps ... when he is gassed from consecutive tournaments and playing a best two-of-three match. But how often does that happen at Roland Garros? The answer is never.

With regard to Rafa "only push(ing) Roger on grass once" ... exactly how many times has he played Roger on grass? They have only played twice ... both finals at Wimbledon. Typically, the top only play two grass tournaments throughout the year: Halle/Queens as a tuneup and Wimbledon. That's it. Yes there are one or two other grass tournaments, but most if not all of the top players don't usually play them. Because Rafa plays Queens and Roger plays Halle, it means they theoretically can only meet on grass once a year, at Wimbledon. And considering their 1 & 2 rankings, they can only meet in the finals. And yet despite all of that, Rafa still comes closer to beating Roger on grass in a slam, despite the less real match experience.
 
Looking at the rest of the year ... things could get very interesting. At the end of this tournament, the rankings will look like this ...1. Roger Federer: 7180 (pre-tournament points) - 1000 ('07 Aussie points) + 450 ('08 Aussie points) = 66302. Rafael Nadal: 5780 (pre-tournament points) - 250 ('07 Aussie points) + 450 ('08 Aussie points) = 5980
3. Novak Djokovic: 4315 (pre-tournament points) - 150 ('07 Aussie points) + 700 (with loss) or 1000 (with win) = 4865 (with loss) or 5165 (with win)
4. Nikolay Davydenko: 2825 (pre-tournament points) - 250 ('07 Aussie points) + 150 ('08 Aussie points) = 2725
5. David Ferrer: 2615 (pre-tournaments points) - 150 ('07 Aussie points) + 250 ('08 Aussie points) = 2715

Roger is now only 650 points ahead of Rafa, who is now ahead of Novak by 815-1115 points, depending on whether or not he wins this weekend. Rafa will have some pressure on himself to defend all of his points during the clay season. Likewise, Roger will have pressure on himself to defend all of his major wins because are they huge points. The race for number 1 for this year really is up for grabs. It will be a very interesting year!
 
fed just didnt have it last night. seemed like he was hitting way too many into the net. not even the tape. a good 4-5 inches below the tape. definitely had chances to win the 1st and 3rd sets, just didn't play the big points well. ooh well, there will be other times for him i'm sure.
i like novak and this new guy tsonga. dunno who i'll root for but i'll be happy with a solid match. i like it this way, i'll be happy with either winner.
 
So the women play tonight, in a little over an hour (8:30 p.m. ESPN2 telecast). Like I said before ... when it comes to Sharapova vs. Ivanovic ... we all are the winners.
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I'm rooting for Ivanovic in this one, only because I would like to see her win her first major and Maria already has two. I like both players though. I hope for a great match. Though, I just don't think Ana will be able to beat Maria the way she has been playing. She has been unstoppable this tournament. If she continues to play as such, it will be in straight sets. Hopefully Ivanovic will be able to get into the points and keep Maria from setting her feet to pound the winners. She'll need to hold her serve too.

I really hope this is close, but I see Maria winning probably 3 and 4.
 
i think it'll be more lopsided than 3 and 4. i'm thinking 1 and 2. hope i'm wrong. if ana starts slow like she has the past couple of matches, then sharapova will pound her into the ground. much like i'd like to... haha
 
Ivanovic holds at 15 to open the 1st set.

Sharapova serving at 0-1.
 
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